Acquisitions Incorporated
by alexrusso89
Summary: Acquisitions Incorporated are back in a anthology series based on pennyarcade's series plot is my own
1. Chapter 1

Waterdeep City. a bustling city on the east coast, purpose built to ease the growing fear. Waterdeep City was home to Acquisitions Incorporated. The first fifteen years of the century were a turbulent time. Tensions reached their height during Shadespire expansion, the newer area of Waterdeep. Right at the heart of this maelstrom of anger was Waterdeep City.

Despite his powers, Jim had always enjoyed summer. It did not last very long in Waterdeep. At the moment, the sun's rays shone through the large window of Omin Dran's office lighting up the room. Clad in blue and silver, Omin sat at his desk.

Strix looked up from her work and eyed the window. She got up, went over to it, and opened it. Sounds of birds chirping and people out in the main town area floated through the window. A wave of warm air washed over Strix.

That's better, Strix thought. She went back to her seat and resumed her writing tasks.

"Omin?"

"What?"

Strix smiled. "Have you checked in on Viari?"

"No, but im also not obligated to heal or check on him either"

For the next few minutes, the sounds of Omin's pen could be heard scribbling about, giving his signature for trade documents and various other documents. He was just about to sign his name for a seed shipment when a knock came on the door.

"Omin?"

The voice was much deeper than Strix's, but Omin recognized it immediately.

"What Jim"

Jim Darkmagic walked over, "I have news."

"Can it wait?"

"It's urgent."

Strix gave a small sigh. "What's the news."

Jim moved aside, letting Viari slide into a seat next to Strix.

"Something terrible has happened at that farm, you know the one near Darkwater" he replied.

"I'm afraid I don't have the time for that. Why don't you just tell me the problem?"

"It is better that I show you. Please, I am not trying anything funny. It is something you ought to see for yourself."

Omin thought for a moment. It was a nice day out, and this was a way for him to enjoy the weather without feeling like he was shirking his duties. And he could always finish his paperwork later, plus his greed to acquire things got the better of him.

"Very well. What do you guys think?."

"Sounds good." Strix said

" Yea, i will get the coach" Viari said.

The coach made its way down the dirt road, They made their way down past the farmer's home and stopped near the cornfield. The Group stepped out.

"Be on your guard," Omin instructed to the others.

Jim then started to walk towards the cornfield. He beckoned to the others.

"This way."

The three of them followed Jim through the numerous, still-growing stalks of corn until they came to a large, circular clearing. Strix looked down at the ground, and saw that the stalks in the area had been flattened, yet each one was still perfectly intact; they had not been broken at all. Omin noticed the look of curiosity on Strix's face.

"Strange, isn't it? This is just one area, I've been finding other clearings just like this one. This is the biggest circle, but there's smaller ones nearby. C'mon."

The four of them walked further, leaving the main clearing and moving through a small path of more flattened stalks. At the end, it led out into another clearing, not quite as large as the first.

Jim surveyed the clearing, then looked back at the small path they had just come from.

"Give me a moment."

With a wave of his hand, a flying carper materialized. Jim stepped onto it and began to manipulate it upwards. It carried him up, up, until he was about a hundred feet above the ground. From his elevated position, Jim was able to look down on the entire field and see the clearings from the air. There was seven circles in total. The largest circle was in the center of the cornfield, with six smaller ones around it. Two were on top, two were on the bottom, and two more were on either side of the center circle, on the left and right. Each small circle was connected to the large one via a path of flattened stalks, like the one They had just walked through. Whoever had made these patterns must have had knowledge of geometry; each small circle was the exact same size, and the paths on the top and bottom of the large circle formed an exact 33-degree angle.

Jim made the carpet float back down, gently lowering himself to the ground. Once it had finished its descent, Jim teleported the carpet with another wave of his hand. He turned to the others.

"This is all very odd, but why did you feel it necessary to show me this? This sort of issue is more appropriate for a agriculture minister."

"That is not all that's happened, There is...something I found."

In the space of a single night, all of the farmer's cows had been slaughtered. Each one was missing their entire set of internal organs; brain, heart, lungs, liver, everything. Even their eyes and tongues were gone. Every cow had also been completely drained of blood. However, other than that there wasn't a single scratch anywhere on the carcasses. Someone, or something, had somehow managed to remove all of that without making a single cut. It wasn't until after Viari sliced open a cow's chest that they could even see it was missing its innards. At least the missing organs made it easier for the carcasses to be disposed of, there was less to burn to ashes and bury.

Strix opened her eyes wide and looked at the sky. It was starting to get cloudy, and what had been a bright summer day was now shadowy and ominous.

" Ok Jim, youve got my attention" Omin said.


	2. Chapter 2

Even though it was summer, the group's coach could easily travel through the various paths of grass and dirt that made up The wilderness around Waterdeep, just like it could with the snow and ice in winter.

"How far along are we?", asked Jim.

" Not much longer" Omin replied as the group continued along to their destination.

The weather today was different; the sky was filled with clouds, and it looked as though it would begin to downpour at any time. In a repeat of the previous day.

"Where are we going ?"

" The stranded Whale, remember Kelsey lightmagic ?"

" Yea "

"You won't be hearing anything from her anymore. She's gone."

Viari was confused.

"I'm sorry, what do you mean 'she's gone'?"

"She's vanished."

"What?"

"That's not even the weirdest part. A warehouse...it's disappeared, completely."

Strix looked at Omin for a moment, then got up from her chair.

"Jim?"

Looking at the empty expanse of land. There wasn't even any grass. Kristoff was right; overnight, everything had simply vanished.

The group carefully made their way down the hill. They all turned their heads this way and that, searching for anything out of the ordinary. Omin was the first to see the small, green shape that sat a few hundred yards away.

"Look." Omin pointed to the shape.

"What could it be?" said Strix.

"Only one way to find out. C'mon."

The group picked up pace, now almost sprinting towards the shape. As they got closer, they could see why the shape had a green tinge to it; it was the familiar color of a firefist uniform.

"What happened here?" Jim said.

"Maybe they were taken," replied Strix .

"What do you mean?"

Just as Strix finished her sentence, they felt small drops of water fall from the sky. After a few seconds, it grew into steady rainfall. The group climbed back into the coach, and were on their way back towards town.

Strix hoped that these strange events were isolated, and this would be the end of it. But somehow, she doubted that. Nothing Acquisitions Incorporated did was not isolated or strange in anyway.


	3. Chapter 3

Omin stood near the top rung of the ladder, looking carefully at each volume that sat in the tall bookcase. Strix, sat cross-legged nearby in a velvet chair, flipping through an encyclopedia. The sketch of the circles from Darkwater, from the day before, lay on a footstool at Strix's side. Omin moved his eyes along the spines of the books, then turned to look at Strix.

"Any luck?"

"Nope, not yet," Steix replied, flipping back her blue and black hair.

"Keep looking. If you don't find anything in that one, try the next in that series."

"Will do."

For the next few minutes, the only sounds that could be heard in the expansive library were the flipping of pages and movement of books, in and out of the shelves. As Omin looked through one book (entitled A History of Waterdeep), Strix broke the silence.

"You know, we haven't really been in this part of the City in quite a while."

Omin closed the history book and put it back in its spot on the shelf. Right after he was about to draw out another book, the main doors to the library opened. Jim walked through them, holding an envelope in his right hand.

"Hey Jim!" Evie said, as she smiled and gave a quick wave.

"Hey Strix," he replied back with a nod.

Jim headed over to Omin, as he stepped down off the ladder, he handed him the envelope. Omin looked at its wax seal, and immediately recognized it as the insignia of Scar. He undid the seal, opening the letter.

Omin Dran,

Found the info you were looking for, the whole town's people have disappeared as well, bring the others too. You'll want to come down here and see.

-Scar, King of the outland

"Thank you Jim"

Jim nodded and headed towards the couch, as Omin turned to look at Strix.

"I'm gonna go get Viari. I need you and Jim to stay here and continue to look for any leads. Those symbols look really old, so researching ancient history should be our best bet. Then were going to meet Scar"

"All right, I'll do my best. I hope everything turns out okay on your end."

"Thank Strix. I should be back soon."

Strix stood up and gave Omin a quick hug, then sat back down, resuming her scholarly efforts.

As Omin walked out of the library, he wondered what he was going to find when he returned to that now-empty town. So far, every other thing he had been called out to see was something horrible; he doubted this latest discovery would be any different.

-Later-

Scar removed the sheets of both corpses to show The group what had happened to them. The bodies' clothing had been removed; they were mutilated in the exact same manner as the cattle. Both the deceased farmer and the second guard left with him were drained of blood; their internal organs, removed; their eyes and tongue, gone. Even their genitals were missing, cauterized wounds marking where they once were.

It seemed more disturbing to Strix to see humans dissected in this way. The dead cattle had only given her some sense of disgust, but this was something different. She wanted to vomit, but for some reason, she couldn't.

"What was the 'something else' you found, Scar?"

Scar motioned for one of his guards present. He came forward, holding two objects, one in each hand. He handed them off to Scar, who, in turn, held them forward for Omin to observe.

"We found them buried in the dirt, right next to where the corpses were."

The objects were circular plates, made of precious metal; one was gold, the other silver. They were both the same size, that of amulet. Omin reached out and took the silver one from Scar's hand. Despite its thinness, it felt heavier than it appeared. However, the strangest thing about both plates was the odd symbol carved on them: the symbols were identical (albeit smaller) to the pattern that had appeared in the very same field just two days before.

Omin looked at the angles, and though he was going to properly measure them when he could, she already knew they would all be 33 degrees.

Omin handed the plate back to Scar, and looked down at the two bodies again.

"Who are they?"

"I do not know, i did manage to find out the history of Darkwater though."

"And anything interesting."

"Yes, Actually, the small of Darkwater is a former whaling town that was established long before this was the Isle of the lost, however after the banishment of the villains here severely crippled the town, it was an artist Sarah Hawkins who painted these incredible paintings that saved the town until her death. She has a warehouse near the docks."

Strix winced on the inside.

"We can head there tomorrow."

"Scar. What do you mean by incredible paintings."

"Sarah had weird visions and painted what she saw, some were landscapes, others were of creatures far beyond the comprehension of humans, especially one called the Shambler"

"We have to see these paintings."

Scar paused, but knew that he would never be able to change the minds of the group.

"And what of these plates?'

"No. Bring them back to the office, I'm going to study them further once I have the chance."

"Of course."

Scar beckoned the guard again, and handed the plates off to him. The guard put each one into its own sizable, leather carrying case, then handed them to Jim.

"You should know...you need to heed my warning and...Be Prepared!."

Omin sighed. This was going to be a long day.

Omin sat at the end of the long table in the office. On either side of him sat Strix, Jim, Viari and newly joined Jessi Noire.

While the group was already familiar with most of the unexplainable events that had recently occurred, Jessi had only just been informed by Omin.

Jessi was the first to voice his disapproval.

"I feel so bad for this town, my parents crippled it, the blood is on my families hands."

"This is not your fault. You didn't know and i doubt your parents knew either, anyway something strange is happening here " Omin replied.

"And what ever this is, this will completely cut us of from any help" Viari interjected.

"I quite agree," said Strix. "This sort of thing is unprecedented."

"We will be fine. None of this reflects poorly on us," Omin replied. He was beginning to display hints of stress, his left hand nearly balled into a fist.

"Darkwater is unfortunately Lost."

"Your father has been the mayor for slightly over a year, and in my opinion, you have done an insufficient job of looking after this city's interests," Jim said accusingly.

Viari interrupted him. "I object to that statement, and I believe you are making unfair judgements that have little to do with the situation at hand. Personally, I believe we all need to chill for a minute."

Jim turned to Viari.

"Oh really? I am being unfair, am I? According to you, Omin abandoned us twice cause, am i not correct?"

Omin and Jessi's eyes briefly met. Jessi was the one to look away, a feeling of guilt forming in her mind.

Jim looked back to Omin"

"How are we to trust you to lead is when, a relatively short time ago, you ran off? Vivax nearly won, because of you."

"That is irrelevant to-"

"Irrelevant? You almost killed us all,"

"That is enough." Strix declared. She stood up from her seat.

"Ok ok guys take a break and Chill got it ."

The group got up from their seats, all slowly filing out of the room. Jessi looked briefly at her boos, trying to wordlessly apologize to him before she stepped out the door.

Jim was the last to leave the room.

"Omin?"

It was Strix's voice.

"What is it?"

Strix walked in, carrying the pictogram sketch in her hand.

"Did you find out anything about those symbols?"

"Well, sort of...," Strix said.

"Meaning?"

"Well, I don't know what this thing says, but Yzma figured out the closest language to it."

"Which is?"

"Ancient Gozarian," said Strix.

"What? Gozarian? What was that doing scrawled in blood on the wall inside a house?"

"Well, like I said, Gozarian i double-checked to make sure, but there's no mistaking it. The lines and curves of that language correspond pretty closely to this sketch."

"But if that's the case, where do we go from here?", Omin thought aloud.

Strix looked at the floor, thinking to herself. After a moment, she spoke.

"Why don't you try going to the mountains tomorrow? He's pretty old, maybe Count Frollo may know something."

"That's a good idea, Strix. I'll...I'll make sure to do that tomorrow..."

Omin gently took the sketch out of Strix's hand and stared at a random spot on the table, remaining where she was. Strix stood there, unsure of what was going on.

"Omin...is everything okay?"

Omin closed his eyes.

Omin felt two hands wrap around his arm, as Strix helped her up out of his chair. When he was fully standing and facing Strix, the Tefling threw her arms around Omin, pulling him close for a hug. Soon the others joined them.


	4. Chapter 4

Omin stood in the middle of a courtyard, the domain of Count Frollo, who he had only spoken to once before. Around him, Frollo's Nun's the Sisters of Silence began to move about. Among them was Frollo . He wore a moss cape, with little yellow crystals hanging from his shirt.

Despite the time that had passed, Omin still instantly recognized him.

"Count Frollo?" He said.

"Ah, Omin Dran, my dear! It's been ages since I last saw you! I remember when you were only half my height!" Frollo cheerfully replied.

"Yes, it has been some time."

"What brings you back out here, Omin?"

As much as he wanted to talk to Frollo about old times, he was here on business.

"Listen, Frollo, there's a few things I need you to take a look at."

Omin removed the leather satchel from his shoulder, opening it to produce the pictogram sketch, and the two plates dug up from Darkwater's field. Upon seeing the different symbols, Frollo's eyes widened. He then turned to his nun's.

"Everyone...if you could allow mr Dran and me some privacy. We have important matters to discuss."

The Sisters of Silence looked at each other, whispered a few words, then all turned and left the courtyard. After they had all left, Frollo turned back to Omin.

"Do you know what language this is?" he said.

"No idea. Ive been told its Gozeria ."

"Yes, well, they were close. But this particular language predates even Gozerian."

"What do you mean? What societies existed before that?"

"There is much of history that has been lost to time. Human civilization goes much farther back than you think.

"Farther back? How far?"

"Omin...you may not be aware of this, but there was once a small landmass near the middle of the Indian Ocean, roughly the size of Waterdeep. The city of R'yleh."

Frollo twirled his hands a bit, A map appeared as the table top flipped ofer, depicting the Indian Ocean and some surrounding lands.

"If the records I read about this land are correct, it existed from the 15th to the 5th millennium BC. After that, some unknown catastrophe occurred, causing the kingdom to crumble and sink beneath the waves."

Frollo moved his hands about again, showing Omin drawings and accounts of R'yleh.

"And after that..."

"...the few survivors from Ilt-n'un managed to head north to what you would call the Mesopotamian region, where they set up a new civilization around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. That new society is what we both know as ancient Gozerian."

Frollo clasped his palms together, as the table top flipped again. Omin could hardly believe the history lesson he had just received.

"How do you know all this, Frollo?"

"When I was a young man, I used to be an cardinal. This allowed me to spend much of my time in the Royal Library, and that information was something I found recorded onto a scroll. Shame the whole thing went up in flames, there were things in there that even I never got around to reading."

"Well, I suppose that sheds light on the origin of this language. But what do these things say?"

Frollo looked at the gold and silver plates, then the sketch, all placed neatly on the ground. He grimaced.

"That sketch of yours, it says 'suspended in the heavens, above'. The ancients had a word that meant something similar, metéora."

"And what about these plates? What do these words say?"

Frollo looked at his feet.

"What do they say, Frollo?"

"Those aren't words on those plates, Omin, They're prime numbers. On the gold plate, from left to right, are the numbers 11, 829, 127, 2269, and 53. On the silver, from left to right, the numbers are 419, 3833, and 1693."

"What...why prime numbers? And why those numbers, specifically? What are these plates for, Frollo?"

"Beacons."

Omin furrowed his brow at the count.

"Beacons? As in, for signaling?"

"Yes, Mr Dran

Frollo stretched his arms and yawned. But it looked odd, as though he was just faking it.

"I'm sorry Omin I'm very old..."

He turned away from Omin,beginning to walk off.

"Frollo, wait! I need to know where these things came from! Who built them?"

The count stopped moving, as he looked straight ahead.

"Omin, who built them?!"

Without turning to look at her, he answered.

"No human did either, for that matter."

There was a few seconds of silence.

"If I were you, Omin, I would destroy those plates, and that sketch. For the isle's sake. You don't want those things hanging around this area for too long."

He cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry, mr Dran. If you'll excuse me..."

Omin watched Frollo go join his nuns.

-Later-

Standing at her bedroom window, looking over the ocean, Strix could see the sky. It was partly cloudy that night, glimpses of stars peeking through the small gaps in the clouds. Down below, in the main town area, slept the citizens of the isle. It was very quiet, with only the sound of the wind blowing through the trees and rustling their leaves.

Holding the two plates, one in each hand, Strix let her magic flow through her hands and into the objects. They each took on a crystallized, brittle apearance. Then, they collapsed, crumbling into small crystals. Strix dissolved each little crystal until nothing was left but bits of frost. The tefling then took the pictogram sketch in her hands, and repeated the process.

As she watched the tiny, tiny crystals get carried away by the wind, she reflected on what Omin had told her and the others, the words ringing in her head. She knew there were things she didnt know, these things that made her uncomfortable to even think about.

Strix felt frustrated. She was still left without any answers, only more questions.


	5. Chapter 5

Strix slept beside Jim. Despite the wizard's snoring, Strix never had problems falling asleep next to him.

She lay on her stomach, her eyes closed and mouth open. A bit of drool leaked from her mouth and onto the pillow, as the sound of her quiet snores were drowned out by Jim's

Suddenly, Strix felt a sensation within her, as though she were floating. She thought of herself levitating up, out of the large bed, and towards the ceiling. Then, she imagined she passed right through it, phasing through the roof of the castle and out into the night sky.

It was then that the dream turned to a nightmare.

Strix opened her eyes. Her surroundings had changed instantly, from the purple bedroom to something else entirely.

The room she was now in was entirely white; white floor, white walls, white ceiling. She sat in some kind of a chair, also white, looking up at about a 45-degree angle.

Strix realized something else was wrong; she couldn't move any part of her body at all. She couldn't speak, or swallow, or even blink. All she could do was stare ahead at the blinding whiteness.

In her peripheral vision, Strix saw something strange, something terrifying.

There were six beings who had suddenly appeared in the room with her. Out of the corner of her eye, Strix saw one of them begin to move closer to where she was. The thing had a disturbing movement to it; it walked elegantly, yet awkwardly at the same time. It was unlike anything she had seen before.

As the being came into her full line of vision, she got a good look at it.

The creature was humanoid, thin, around four feet tall, with smooth, grey skin. Including the thumbs, it had four fingers on each hand, and its limbs were thin and spindly. The thing had no hair anywhere on its body; it didn't have genitalia of any kind, either.

Looking at its head, Strix could see that it appeared too large for the rest of its body. There were no ears to speak of, with only two small holes functioning as nostrils and a thin slit serving as its mouth.

However, the entity's most disturbing feature, by far, was its eyes. They were large, almond-shaped, and completely black. They were devoid of any sort of empathy or warmth.

Strix lay there, still paralyzed, as the thing touched her face with its right hand, its long, thin fingers resting softly on her cheek; they felt cold. It moved its head closer to her face and looked at her with those horrible eyes.

As its eyes peered into Strix's, she began to feel a wave of different emotions move through her; anger, hatred, joy, curiosity, pity, love, confusion, fear. She felt every emotion come and go within seconds of each other, as though they were being sorted through and categorized.

The entity continued to stare as Strix began to recall memories in her head; a memory of her meeting Acquisitions incorporated for the first time.

Another memory came into her head, the night where she and Acquisitions Incorporated robbed a bank called Dragonshold, and the same night where their relationship changed forever.

Strix felt discomfort over what this thing was doing to her. It was bringing up her most nostalgic memories, ones that it had no right to dredge up. She hated the creature. She wanted to strike it, gouge at those unfeeling eyes that would not stop looking at her.

When Steix felt like she couldn't take it anymore, it finally removed its hand from her face and stepped back. However, it still did not take its eyes off her. Instead, the other five creatures, who had been standing at the side of the room all this time, moved forward to stare at Strix as well.

The six of them were all identical in appearance, right down to the eyes.

Steel restraints sprang up, closing around Strix's arms and legs and binding them. Then, eight spidery, metal instruments slowly folded out and down to hang over Strix. Each instrument had a bladed, sharp end to it, as though it was some kind of device made for surgery.

It sprang to life, loudly whirring. The creatures looked on, indifferent, as the spindly metal arms moved downwards, closer to Strix.

Her eyes widened, and she realized that she now had some control over her face. It didn't do her any good though, as she still couldn't move her body; even if she was able to, it wouldn't matter due to the restraints that held her down.

The devices moved over her chest, and as they were about to cut into her flesh, Strix screamed.

"Strix!"

Jim was grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. She was screaming and thrashing about in her sleep.

"Strix! WAKE UP!"

She suddenly stopped, and her eyes shot open.

Strix sat up a bit and looked around at her familiar bedroom, then over at the wizard

"...Jim?"

She looked at him for a few seconds more, then fell into his arms. As Jim held her, she began to sob, loudly and uncontrollably, into his chest.


	6. Arc 1 Finale

Omin,Jim,Viari, Morgaen and Jessi stood near Strix, all had worried expressions on their faces. After Strix had woken up screaming in terror, Jim didn't know what to do, and so he called the team, telling them what had occurred.

Strix sat in a chair near the bed, a blanket wrapped around her. A small table sat in front of her; on it lay a cup of tea and a small plate with some chocolates on it. Normally, Strix would have stuffed her face with the chocolate, but right now she was holding just one piece in her hand, taking small bites. Every now and then she would take a sip of the tea, but overall, her sweet tooth was severely lacking that night.

Strix's eyes were still red from all the crying she had only just finished minutes ago. Aside from uttering Kristoff's name when she woke from her ghastly dream, she had not spoken since that point, instead only continuing to sob until she sat down in the chair and had some time to compose herself.

Seeing an opportunity, Morgaen moved forward and gently placed her hand on Strix's shoulder.

"Strix...what happened?..."

The tiefling just sat there, continuing to absent-mindedly nibble on some chocolate, while she used one hand to keep the blanket wrapped around her.

Morgaen was confused at Strix's silence.

"Please, Strix. Tell us what happened. If We don't know, We can't help you at all."

Strix swallowed the last piece of chocolate, and shut her eyes. She breathed deeply.

"...Morgean...could I stay here for the rest of the night? I just...I don't think I can go back to my room right now..."

Morgean looked over at Jim, who shrugged; he seemed fine with it.

"Well, all right. But you have to promise that you'll tell me everything when you wake up."

Strix moved over to a big, soft couch that sat up against the far wall, directly across from the foot of the bed. As she lay down, she pushed the blanket aside to make a space next to her.

The team watched as Strix's eyes slowly shut, and soon she was asleep. Morgean couldn't help but smile a bit as she watched the tiefling sleep.

The sunrise was only around three hours away. Omin moved to the bookshelf and removed a book; it was a collection of recently-published short stories. As Morgean sat down on her bed, the team began to research, as Strix snored the night away.

While she slept, Strix didn't encounter those creatures again. But she did have another vision.

She found herself floating over an entire land coated in ice. She passed over entire plains of snow, drifting for what seemed like hundreds of miles, until she saw something on the horizon. Strix floated closer, and as she slowly went over, she was it was a massive ice wall, she saw what lay on the other side of them.

Beyond the wall was a vast city. Weird structures of unknown origin covered the landscape. Some structures were spherical, some cubed, some conical. None of them had any visible entrances, and every building was coated in those same odd patterns and lines that composed the unidentified language that Anna had studied.

She stayed over the city for a few more minutes, taking in its strangeness. Then, suddenly, Strix began to float upward. The city grew smaller in her vision as she continued to travel further away. Eventually, Strix was so high up that she was able to make out the entire continent, looking at its white shape bordered by the blue of the sea around it.

Strix went higher and farther away still, until she became the first person ever to see what the Earth looked like from space.

For a second, Strix marveled at its beauty, but as she watched, something began to apporach. And then, all at once, the entire world shattered to bits; trillions of little bits of ice, floating in the vacuum of space. Strix then saw each star, light-years and light-years away, begin to go out. Eventually, none were left, and she floated alone in the blackness.

There was darkness, but Strix noticed that it was different this time. This darkness felt thick and heavy, foreboding and sinister.

Strix sensed something with her. She immediately felt afraid, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. She cleared her throat, and tried to speak.

"H-hello?"

There was silence for a moment, then, whatever was standing a few feet away from Strix spoke.

"Your not human, normally humans call me"

The thing's voice grated on Strix's ears. It sounded harsh, cruel. She wasn't sure if it was making audible noise, or if it was putting words directly into her mind. Strix took a deep breath, then replied.

"I didnt call you, i just want to go home."

This time the thing waited almost half a minute before speaking.

"You want knowledge. Yes, I believe I will share some of it with you."

Strix was suddenly overcome with fear once more, she felt like running, but her legs didn't seem to want to work. She stood rooted to the place.

Strix felt four ropey, tentacle-like appendages snake up her legs, her chest, then around her head. She gave a cry of pain as two of them shot into her nostrils, the other two inserting themselves into her ears.

Images and sounds began to quickly flood through Strix's senses. In her mind's eye, she saw faint, outlined visions of frightening, nameless things; visions of a race of fishmen and their two monstrous leaders; visions of a malevolent, rust-colored, cloud-like entity; visions of a colossal, squid-like creature slumbering in a drowned city with impossible geometry; visions of an amorphous, tentacled horror floating in a dark void.

One more vision flashed through Strix's mind; that of a man, clad in the garb of a pharaoh. But this "pharaoh" didn't look right. He was 9 feet tall, his skin was black as the night, and he had no mouth. For some unknown reason, Strix felt there was a connection between this "man" and the thing before her.

The "pharaoh's" eyes were completely white, piercing through to the soul.

Strix looked at the thing, the thick darkness had disappeared altogether, and allowed her to see exactly what it was that she had been talking to. While her visions had only been shadowy glimpses, this was fully detailed. The thing she saw looked horrible, and could not exist in any sane universe.

It was a constantly-shifting, black mass of eyes, claws, legs, and tendrils. Parts of it would seemingly phase out of existence and reappear a few feet beside their original positions. It had length, width, height, and about six or seven other dimensions to it.

Before his mind snapped completely, Strix saw the thing's teeth-like formations, all 4,158 of them, twist into what could only be described as a very, very nasty smile.

Strix woke with a startle, the first faint rays of light from the sun began to peek over the horizon. Strix finished the last of her drawing for the team, then tossed the pen aside, putting her head in her hands as she began to weep. She thought she was done crying from her ordeal, but seeing her nightmares on paper made the tears well up within her again.

The team looked at the drawing, mystified. It depicted the six mysterious beings from Strix's first dream, looking down at her while a spidery mechanism poised above her, ready to perform some macabre experiment on her body.

On another part of the paper, Strix had illustrated herself floating above the weird city of cubes and cones, then finally a recreation of that nasty smile.

Morgean put her arm around her, letting her cry into her shoulder.

"Strix...it'll all be okay. You're safe now.." said Morgean, rubbing Strix's shoulder.

"No...no, it won't be okay. What if they come back? What if they take me again?"

"We wont let them"

Strix and Morgean looked at Omin, Omin then looked at the sheet of paper. He picked it up in his hands and focused on the six creatures with the almond-shaped eyes.

"Is this 'they'?" said Omin.

Strix nodded, without looking at her drawing. She shut her eyes.

"This is all because of that pictogram I looked at, isn't it? I found something out that they didn't like," she said.

"Its like they dont want us to find something." Jim said.

"They're going to come back for me, I know it. What can we do?"

Omin thought for a moment, then moved to look out the window.

"I'm going to find out what's going on here" And I know just who to talk to."

It was nighttime in Waterdeep once again.

Omin and Jim moved through the Valley of the Living Rock, until they found the large amount of stones that all lay close to each other. As they all unraveled into their troll forms, Jim froze each and every one of them instantly, encasing them all in blocks of ice with a flick of his wand guns, he would have to thaw them out when he was done there.

One troll remained unfrozen; their patriarch, Grand Pabbie. He was taken aback at the sudden flash-freezing of his friends.

"Omin, what is the meaning of-"

"Shut up."

Pabbie was sent flying as Jim blasted him with his magic. As he lay on the ground, disoriented, Omin picked him up by one of his legs. With a quick flash of blue, more magic flew from Jim's wand as a large ice pillar sprang up underneath, lifting the both of them high into the air.

As Pabbie hung upside down, he could see they were well above the treetops of his forest, easily a few hundred feet up.

"Dran, what are you..." he began.

"You knew something about those things, all along! And because you didn't say anything, six people are now dead, and one of my employee's was abducted by those things last night!"

"B-but-"

"You know, Pabbie, I don't think even stone would stay intact if it were dropped from this height. So unless you want to be turned into gravel, I suggest you start talking."

"N-no, please! You don't know those things, they're horrible-"

Omin let go of Pabbie, and he shrieked as he began to fall.

Before he had fallen even ten feet, two long arms, constructed out of snow, shot out and caught the troll, pulling him back up to where Omin was.

"Okay, okay! I-I'll tell you everything! Please, just put me down!"

After they had both descended back and were safely on the ground again, Omin set Pabbie on the ground, Jim ready to blast him again if he tried anything.

"Talk."

Pabbie gulped.

"All right. Listen, these creatures, they're...they're exceedingly old."

"How old?"

"Older than you, older than me. Older than the Earth, even."

"And why are they here? What do they want?" Jim demanded.

Pabbie brought his voice down to a whisper.

"They're here to get something valuable to them, something that will help them further their own plans. They came here from-"

Pabbie screamed as he shot up into the sky.

"Nnnnoooooooo! Help meeeeeeee!" he screamed, as he was pulled along by some great, unknown force.

" Jim!, not yet!"

" That wasnt me Omin"

Omin, shocked, nodded at Jim who quickly constructed an ice ceiling far above Pabbie, hoping he would stop when he ran into it. It didn't work; the troll simply phased right through it, as though it wasn't there at all.

One last bloodcurdling screech could be heard from Pabbie, before everything went silent.

Dissolving his construct of ice, Omin and Jim could see that there was nothing past it, no indication of what had grabbed the troll or where he had went.

Omin and Jim continued to stare up in the night sky, as they realized that their last real lead was gone, and once again, they had failed.

They slowly turned and walked away. Jim waved his hand, the blocks of ice that had trapped the rest of the trolls dissolving. They looked about, confused at what had just happened to them, and where Grand Pabbie was.

But Omin and Jim had already left.

The next day, the team was researching. At this point, they didn't know what to do next. What could they do? Grand Pabbie was gone, and so, there was no one left to turn to, no one else to ask for information.

Omin took one more glance out the open window, trying to enjoy the gorgeous summer day.

But what happened next was terrifying.

A massive, black, saucer-like object suddenly materialized in the sky. It floated only a few hundred feet above the rooftops, blotting out the sun and casting a large shadow over the entire town. As everyone down in the village saw it, the shouts and horrified screams could be heard coming from both men and woman alike.

Had the saucer been there this entire time, floating over Waterdeep, cloaked and hidden?

The team watched from the window, astounded, as the entire top of the North Mountain exploded. As it blew apart in a shower of snow, ice, and rock, something large began to emerge from the hole in the mountain. The Mountain had been hollow, all along.

The large object coming out of the mountain was a dodecahedron, and like the flying craft it was getting drawn towards, it was also black. Etched onto the numerous sides of the object were those same symbols seen in the pictogram, as well as the angled lines and circles from the field.

The dodecahedron floated over to the much larger saucer, and it passed through the underside of it, disappearing inside. And then, the entire sky quickly flashed blood-red before the saucer turned into a ball of energy, rapidly shooting up into the sky, leaving the planet altogether.

The team stood shocked; they just stared out the window at what had just happened, trying to make sense of it all. But she couldn't, because none of it made any sense.

Eventually, Waterdeep went back to normal (as "normal" as a town could be). New crops were grown, more livestock were raised, and the city prospered. There were no more disappearing farms, no more mutilations of animals or people, and no more bizarre symbols in that pre-Sumerian text.

Strix never had any more nightmares of "them", and she went back to her usual cheerful, optimistic self in no time.

As for Grand Pabbie, his fate remained unknown. At one point, Omin heard a rumor of a collection of greyish sand being found by the trolls in their valley, with a bit of grass and yellow crystal mixed in with it. But it was just that: a rumor.

There was only one last strange thing to happen in Waterdeep: the mayor was found dead inside the basement of his home. He had slashed open his left wrist with a knife, and drawn something with his own blood. However, what he had drawn wasn't in that old pre-Gozerian language. Instead, the symbol was something entirely different; it was a pyramid. And on the inside of it, the mayor had drawn an eye.

In the end, everyone was safe. And those unwelcome visitors were never encountered again.

As far as Waterdeep knew, everything was fine.

As far as they knew.


	7. Season 2: the dragon hiest

Jessi, are you sure about this? You've still got a few good years left in you."

Jessi Lovecraft shakes her head, "Thank you but I think my time here is done with."

One of her coworkers taps her on the shoulder from behind, "Jessi, you have a phone call."

Jessi follows him to the small crystal ball connected to the wall.

"Jessi Lovecraft, this is Omin Dran."

" Omin, hey. It's been awhile"

"Jessi. Since you're leaving the guild...I wanted to ask if you could work for me."

" Thanks but no thanks."

"Please Jessi, i need you on this assignment. You'll be working in your own hometown too."

"Waterdeep?"

"Jessi, I'm begging you here."

She sighs, "Omin, if you were anyone else, you know I'd say no. What do you need?"

"Meet me in my office."

She hangs up, and I place the phone down back on the receiver. I walk over back to

Jessi quickly heads over to Omin'a building. The building elevator takes her all the way to the too, where the hallways are gloomily lit with energy efficient lanterns.

After getting out of the elevator, Jessi walks across the hallway.

"Jessi, there you are," Omin greets from his desk.

"Omin this better be something good," Jessi tells him playfully, walking up to his desk.

"Well, I'm sure you're aware that i run Acquisitions Incorporated." He begins, "well, the recruits I've been getting aren't...quite what I was looking for."

"What's wrong with these candidates?."

"That's the problem. Sure they have the skill, but they're..."

Jessi pressed her finger on her chin, "So...what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to go out into Waterdeep and Jim Darkmagic and Viari and anyone else," Omin explains, "we chose Waterdeep for a very specific reason-"

"Because it's the coty of splendors?"

Omin slowly nods his head, "And we need to get the band back together."

Jessi arches her eyebrows, "...really? That...actually, that kind of makes sense."

"Alright, but what's in it for me?" Jessi asks.

"The work. I know this is what you really love to do, plus you had nothing else on " He corners.

Jessi pauses, "...I was thinking about entertaining again."

He chuckles almost cruelly, "You, an entertainer? Jessi, give me a break."

Jessi rolls her eyes, "Thanks for the vote of confidence Omin, i am a bard, but you know I could still change my mind about taking this assig-"

"You will do no such thing." He snaps out of his momentary laughter.

"Hey, I'm allowed to crack a joke too, aren't I?"

" Ok, besides the work, if you agree you will be apart of Acquisitions Incorporated " Omin says

" Sure Omin"

He packs everything into a small backpack and throws it at me. I catch it with ease, swinging it around my back.

"Waterdeep awaits."


	8. Chapter 8

In the small motel room. Jessi slipped into the dress provided for her by Omin. It's probably the most risque number she's ever attempted to pull off, but thankfully, She is pretty good shape. In her hand a dainty clutch purse, which contains some money.

After leaving her apartment at the cusp of midnight, Jessi walked a couple of blocks, and arrived at the doors of the Yawning Portal.

Jessi opened the door and was greeted with a dank, dark atmosphere. There are a couple of drunkards, but it's apparent that most of the bar's patrons are on official business, by the way they stare her down suspiciously.

Jessi makes her way past the bar to a table where several men in black and brown cloaks are huddled closely together, rolling dice and taking bets.

"Evening gentlemen," She greets them, placing one hand on the edge of the table.

The men turn around from their game to look up at her. They say nothing at first, and their stares are blank and unmoving.

Suddenly the door of the bar bursts open. Two men stumble in, carrying a much smaller man in a very fashionable cloak.

"Look who came in crying for a job again!" one of them shouts, slamming the guy onto the bar.

"I-I assure you gentlemen, I'm a man of many skills. Your boss will find me very helpfu-" he's cut off by one of them men punching him in the stomach,

"Shut up!"

Someone pushes Jessi from behind, Becoming more aggressive, the men throw the man to the ground and start stomping on him. Jessi runs in front of the man, shielding him, "Stop!"

The men laugh, before one of them throws a punch at Jessi. She blocks it, but then another one comes from the side, knocking her off balance. Jessi stumbles and catch herself against the bar.

The next thing Jessi is being escorted out of the bar. Looking to her right, She sees that the man is also being dragged out, clearly far worse for wear than Jessi is.

The bar doors are flung open and Jessi is thrown out onto the dirty, wet pavement, with the man launched right next to her, before the doors are slammed behind them.

"Hey," Jessi barks at him.

His head turned away from me, he stirs ever-so-slightly, slowly turning over to reveal shadowy, light green eyes, pasty pale skin, and an abnormally pronounced nose.

"Uhm...you okay?"

With one hand, he pushes himself up, "Yeah...it's, it's not exactly easy to find decent work in this town, is it?, Oh, Uhm..do...do you have anywhere you can go?"

"Yeah, but no where with a place to wash this dress."

"Well, I have an apartment, not too far from here. There's a washer and dryer. You could wash your dress there."

"Alright, thanks. What's your name?" Jessi asks.

He offers his hand to help her, which She takes, and as She is pulled up, his warm helping hand becomes a firm handshake, "Viari."

I smile, "I'm Jessi Lovecraft"

"Shall we?" he asks, gesturing to the right, "My apartment's down this way."


	9. Chapter 9

Jessi follows Viari up several flights of stairs in a dark building to his apartment. The stairs moan with each step, as if the floorboards are about to give out right under us.

He reaches into the pockets of his suit and unlocks the door, letting it slowly creak open. The door opens to a small apartment, decorated in a Victorian fashion. Lace coverings envelope the tables, chairs, and practically everything else. There's a general antiquated feel to the furniture, as if all of the furnishings are actually from the Victorian era.

He shuffles off into a room, leaving Jessi alone in the doorway. Jessi closes the door and take a seat on the well-used couch that serves as the centerpiece of the small living room. There's a fireplace opposite the couch, and right in front of her feet is a faded mahogany coffee table, with a rather expensive china tea set set out.

"I'm not sure if this'll fit you but, uh, you can try it on in my room," he says, carefully handing Jessi a neatly folded bundle. Taking the clothes, Jessi heads into the other bedroom door Viari gestures to. Opening the door, Jessi sees simple bedroom filled to the brim with stacks of old leather bound books. A double bed sits at the center against the back wall, and intricate sketches of birds hang from the walls.

Jessi sets the dress on the bed and unfold it, it's a simple emerald green dress, with a curved collar and two buttons down the breast. Jessi throws off the dress Omin gave her and slip into the new one. It's form fitting around the waist.

"Are you dressed?" Viari asks, peeking in through the door. He sees that Jessi is changed, and he spends a couple of seconds examining her, his eyes wandering.

"Well, what do you think?" Jessi asks

"Be-beautiful...I, I mean, very nice, very, very...nice."

Jessi smiles, "Thanks."


	10. Chapter 10

Jessi is jolted awake by a sudden sound. All of the lights are off, it's still night time, the only source of light comes from the Waterdeep skyline through the open windows. I look out and realize what a wonderful view they have of the city, with the exception of a couple of high-rises, you can see straight out past the Deep water harbour, almost all the way to Dageerford.

There a creaking sound from within the floorboards, Jessi whips around, but Sees no one. Grabbing her dagger, she slowly approaches the dark shadows of the small kitchen in the corner. She makes it to the kitchen...empty. All of a sudden, Jessi feels a sharp breathing on her neck, strong enough to blow her hair ever so slightly. Posing to attack, Jessi turns around, and stops at the last minute, its Viari, "...hi."

"Oh God, Viari, you scared the hell out of me," Jessi whispers relaxing. Viari sits at his windowsill, looking out at the beautiful view of the Waterdeep skyline.

"You have a lovely view," Jessi comments, looking out the window with him.

"Yeah...Waterdeep is the city of slendors, isn't it?" he tilts his head to the side, "Although, that big skyscraper is covering my view of the Harbour "he points "thankfully, you can still see the harbour from the living room."

" Viari i didnt come here by choice."

He nods

"Why?"

"Well, I sent by Omin to find you"

He sighs, "...I...I figured he would try to find me at some point."

He chuckles, "It's fine, really."

Jessi laughs as well, "Im sorry"

"NO!" he shouts angrily.

Jessi jumps back, shocked at his sudden mood swing. Viari's changed completely, his posture more upright, his head bent down slightly to emphasize his fierce, shady eyes. is he more trouble than what he's wort?

He backs off, "...you're scared."

Jessi smiles nervously, "Well, you certainly gave me a fright for a second there."

"Viari, thank you for letting me wash this dress over at your place," Jessi formally thanks him as they walk along the street back to her motel room.

He chuckles, "Trust me it's nothing. It's the least I could do after you...stood up for me back at the bar."

"Oh, that? It was nothing, forget about it," Jessi assures him, "i'll have to tell Omin that i have located you"

"Actually, I'd like to tell him," he states, stuttering a little in between.

The early morning sky becomes jet red as an explosion rockets from the building. Viari and Jessi jump back and find cover in an alleyway as debris flies at them.

"Was that…?"

"Yeah," Jessi mumbles as the aftershock of the explosion settles.

They see the building is now completely ablaze, several people run out of the building, their skin and clothing scorched from the flames. How did this happen?

Jessi glances over at Viari. She then charges for the building, and She hears Viari's footsteps not too far behind, "What are you doing?!"

"There must be people still inside!" Jessi explains, running to the side of the building, scaling a drainpipe, and Jessi looks at Viari for just a second before leaping into the flames.


	11. Chapter 11

"Jessi?"

Jessi turns around, recognizing the distinct tone.

A tall, slender man with dark hair, brown eyes, and an ever-enthusiastic smile steps out of the shadows, "So...this is what you've been upto."

"Guess so"

He turns around, pointing to the alley he stepped out of, "I was taking a walk when I found this place well whats left of it."

That's Flynn for ya, formalities always seem to elude him. He points to the stained brick wall of the burnt and charred apartment building, "...what do you see?"

Jessi leans in, on the wall is a stain, " Judging by the poignantly rust-like smell in the air, I'd say that's blood-"

"Seems like it " Flynn points out.

"And it's quite large as well, notice the contours of the stain. Not counting the places where the blood has dripped down, it appears to have the same outlines of a human being."

" How does a devilish rogue like yourself know all is Flynn?"

Flynn flashes his signature smirk " Im curious to why your here Jessi "

"Well, when I arrived back in Waterdeep, I rented out a motel room here, now the trouble is, it burnt after a night of me staying there. I have a feeling that the fire was intentional, but I can't be certain"

"That does sound suspicious, but, who would want to burn down you place of residence? Jessi...are you in some kind of trouble?" he asks worriedly.

"No Flynn, as far as i know I'm fine. But who knows, it could've just been a play at Acquisitions Incorporated or something. It just...doesn't feel right is all."

"Alright, I'll assist you."

Jessi chuckles " Thanks old friend, at least i can count you."

"And the others" he grins at her.

The building's structure still stands, but small, individual chunks of it have already begun to crumble. The doors are wide open, guess the owner forgot to lock up. jessi and Flynn enter, they check all the obvious spots where the fire could've started, the kitchen, the fireplace in the lobby, the heating system in the basement, but nothing seems to hold the source of the fire. But then, just as they were about to give up, they get a sickening hunch,

"I have one more place I think we should check." Jessi tells him.

Within minutes they reach the third floor, Jessi heads to the room She was in. Jessi tried the door. Figuring the door's security has been weakened by the fire, Flynn kicks the door open.

"What, no bobby pins?" Jessi asks disappointedly.

Flynn shrugs, "Don't have any on me."

Flynn notices something immediately, and gently pushing Jessi aside, shuffles to a peculiar spot in the middle of the room, "Check this out!"

"This is it...this is definitely the origin of the fire." he concludes, pointing to the spot on the ground. He takes out a pair of black gloves and stretching them on, picks up the remains of a small match, "Good, we've established a location. How did you know the fire was started here?"

"This...this was my room."

Flynn's smile vanishes as the realization also comes about him. He places the match back on the ground, "C'mon, we need to get you out of here." he takes off his gloves, and placing one hand on Jessi's shoulder and one on her back, he leads her out of the building.

" Where to now ?" Jessi asks

" Come on, lets get you to Troll Skull Manor" Flynn says.


End file.
